It is well known that a support belt may be secured around a human user's waist with the effect of increasing the user's strength and load carrying ability, relieving back pain, and other benefits. Traditionally, support belts have been made of relatively heavy and stiff natural materials, usually leather. An improved belt, made of synthetic materials laminated together is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,782,535 issued Nov. 8, 1988. In this belt, an inner fabric layer, an intermediate foam layer, and an outer fabric layer are laminated together and a high strength nylon strap is wrapped around the lamination and secured to it.
A buckle-type fastener is provided to secure the ends of the strap so as to hold the belt around the waist of a user. Improved buckle structures for securing such a belt are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,036,864, issued Aug. 6, 1991, and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,269,050 issued Dec. 14, 1993.
In certain applications, such as heavy weight lifting, the user may like to tighten the belt around his or her waist to a very high tension, so as to create the highest possible intra-abdominal pressure, with a corresponding increase in load bearing ability. This has sometimes required the aid of one or more people in addition to the user to help cinch the belt to the desired tension. While being cinched and while holding such high tensions, the belt and particularly the fastener for holding the belt cinched was subjected to an extraordinary load. The present invention is directed at providing a belt for cinching and holding such high loads.